Cool reception is the idea at ice hotel

There's no coat room at this hotel and it's for a good reason: you'll want to keep it on.

The more-than-one-metre-thick ice walls keep the temperature inside around -4°C, and when you check in for the night the concierge hands you an Arctic sleeping bag and a map to find the heated bathroom.

Does that leave you cold? Well, it hasn't kept visitors to Canada's only ice hotel from spending the night on an ice bed, since the hotel opened its doors 10 years ago.

"We're expecting a record 100,000 visitors this year, and about 10,000 of them will stay overnight," said Jacques Desbois, CEO and founder of the Ice Hotel, located some 45 kilometres outside Quebec City.

He noted that half a million people have visited the hotel.

To mark their 10th season, owners of the outdoor hotel built a massive igloo next to its 30,000-square-foot ice-and-snow building. The new addition is said to be the largest igloo ever built in North America -- with a ceiling of 7.6 metres and a diameter of 12 metres.

"This is a tribute to our Nordic roots and to the Inuit genius," said Desbois. "In some way, the igloo is the ancestor of the ice hotel."

To celebrate the milestone, Desbois and his team have chosen to take a step back to reflect on the past.

"We have evolved from a people that had the brilliant idea to invent igloos to survive to a people that now builds them to have fun. And the great thing is that igloos are still here today and we want to emphasize that," he explained.

Desbois has always been passionate about snow and ice and used to build igloo villages throughout the province before falling in love with the first Ice Hotel in Sweden. He was inspired to build one in Quebec and over the years he has made it one of the city's tourist draws.

"One thing I'm proud of is that we are becoming the No. 1 outdoor activity in Quebec for people who don't like winter!" Desbois said.

This season, activities at the ice hotel will focus on raising awareness about northern culture, the Arctic and the effects of global warming, Desbois said.

The igloo serves as a media room for conferences, with big plasma screens for documentaries. It also features an exhibition of Inuit artifacts put together by archeologist Yves Chretien, who has uncovered Jacques Cartier's long-lost 1541-43 settlement near Quebec City.

The ice hotel complex is made of 15,000 tonnes of snow and 500 tonnes of ice. Almost everything inside is carved out of ice or snow, including the furniture and beds, and the chandelier hanging from the six-metre ceiling in the main hall.

The first construction phase was completed on Jan. 4 and the remaining rooms -- there will be a total of 36 -- will be available as of Jan. 21.

The ice hotel features an ice bar, an ice cafe and a chapel. The venue has become increasingly popular for wedding parties and Desbois said more than 40 marriages will be celebrated at the ice hotel this winter.

Recently staff prepared a flower-themed room for a romantic wedding proposal. The lighting was red, as was the bedding covered with flowers. The suite was chosen by the suitor for its carved-out flowers made of ice.

Each of the rooms has its own theme and features carved artistic pieces, including one with a majestic totem.

After 10 years, the ice charm doesn't seem to be thawing.

"It's so beautiful, I'm blown away," said Maria Tucci, who came from Montreal to visit the hotel. "I've always wanted to come and I'm not disappointed."

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